Jon_B Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I've been looking at my photos of the decoration
> inside the tomb chamber of Unas.
>
> It's a fascinating collection of abstract patterns
> but there are also some repeated items that seem
> to represent something.
>
> There are two such items here which I've
> highlighted at the bottom right as well a bit
> bigger.



> Anybody know what they are?

As Greg noted, the first image is described by Petrie as bundled lotuses symbols found at Coptos. By 1930, however, it was no longer included as a lotus bundle in Petrie's wider work on decorative symbols in the ancient world, but had moved (in a variant) to "Emblems."

But I also think it should be noted here that G. A. Wainwright, writing for the JEA in the 1930's - 1940's, referred to this same imagery as the labrys, the double-headed axe, and described it as an emblem of the god Min at Coptos during the archaic Egyptian period, which by Late Period, was transformed to a main association with the gods Sutekh and Heryshef of Mendes - in each case, in their aspects as storm gods. The relevant literature by Wainwright is

Wainwright, G. A. 1931. The Emblem of Min. Journal of Egyptian Archaeology 17, No. 3/4 (Nov., 1931): 185-195.

________________. 1933. The Bull Standards of Egypt. Journal of Egyptian Archaeology 19, No. 1/2 (May, 1933): 42-52.

________________. 1934. Some Aspects of Amun. Journal of Egyptian Archaeology 20, No. 3/4 (Nov., 1934): 139-153.

________________. 1935. Some Celestial Associations of Min. Journal of Egyptian Archaeology 21, No. 2 (Dec., 1935): 152-170.

________________. 1941. Seshat and the Pharaoh. Journal of Egyptian Archaeology 26 (Feb., 1941): 30-40.

I can't see that many Egyptologists since Wainwright have made this association for this symbol, and it may be now a dead concept, but I think it worth noting that more as written about this symbol other than simply Petrie's 1895 description (Wainwright even notes Petrie's examples in some of these articles in making his labrys arguments).

As to the second image, I think the sort of "checkerboard" decorated box below it gives a hint to these items' function - they appear to be senet pieces, sitting on the game board. This image compare favourably to the elements of the Y5 glyph, which Gardiner describes as "(Y5 symbol) draught board (/znt/)(1), with the following note: (1) For this word, see L. D. II, 61, a; when it has a draught board as det., this is more elaborated made than the sign for /mn/, ex. Urk. V, 4, 12". The individual game pieces themselves are the Y6 glyph, used either an ideogram or determinative for the term "draughtsman" (Gardiner 1982 (1957): 534).

Reference:

Gardiner, A. H. 1982 (1957). Egyptian Grammar: Being an Introduction to the Study of Hieroglyphs. Third Ed., Revised. Oxford: Griffith Institute.

Petrie, W. M. F. 1999 (1895). Egyptian Decorative Art. Minneola: Dover Publications, Inc.

Petrie, W. M. F. 1995 (1930). Decorative Patterns of the Ancient World. London: Bracken Books.

HTH.

Katherine Griffis-Greenberg

Doctoral Candidate
Oriental Institute
Doctoral Programme in Oriental Studies [Egyptology]
Oxford University
Oxford, United Kingdom